[PeteCady]

I'm about to turn 73. My wife and I have been playing "out," doing folky singing with guitar, fiddle and sometimes bass, at the local level, for the last 25 years or so, and are just finishing a busy summer with local gigs.

Since '05, when I acquired a Rainsong OM (the older, all-carbon-fiber model with no neck adjustment), I've used that guitar for almost all of my playing outside the house - gigs, song circles, parties, whatever. Although I have several wood guitars, a couple of them much nicer than my playing skills merit. It's just so much more rugged and dependable that wood guitars make no sense, except for playing in ideal temperature, humidity, and acoustic conditions, which we just don't do in the real world.

For the last couple of years, I've been bothered by pain in the joint at the base of my left thumb when playing, especially using barre chords. I think it's what the web medical advice pages call "basil joint arthritis." (I'm definitely left-handed, but have always played guitar right handed. When I learned, it never occurred to me that there was a choice.) I've switched to using either Newtone Heritage, or Martin FX strings, for less tension with adequate volume and "twang," and that helps some. It would also help if I did less splitting of firewood with a maul, but we need to stay warm! And less cross-country skiing, especially uphill, and less hard pole planting during downhill skiing, but I need the outdoor exercise in the winter!

The point of all of the above is, of course, that I'm looking very hard at the Rainsong Shorty models. I definitely have too many guitars, and have resolved not to acquire more. I've sold off a couple in the last year, but acquired a couple as well. I'm sure a lot of readers of this have the same character flaw. I'm interested in the idea of the unidirectional top giving a more "natural sound," but what really attracts me is the shorter scale. Not only for the decreased tension permitting less pressure on the fretting hand, but the shorter reach to the lower frets making for less bending of the wrist.

I think it might help. But I'm also afraid I may simply be trying to rationalize my instrument-buying habits.

Has anyone who's played both the long-scale and short-scale Rainsongs noticed any real difference in playing comfort? Any drawbacks to the short scale? (I'm not worried about access to the highest frets. They're a foreign country for me anyway.)

Thanks, Peter